Sunday, 21 April 2013

阿杂(Nyonya Acar)

Nyonya Acar is a type of vegetable pickle or salad popular in Malaysia. Made from different vegetables like cucumbers, long
beans, carrots, cabbage ,pineapple and is cooked with spicy paste and tamarind juice or vinegar.
Ground peanuts and sesame seeds are also added to this salad.

My
family used to eat this delicious Nyonya Acar (Nyonya Pickles) once a
year，during Chinese New
Year reunion dinner. Here comes the question ,why only once in a year ? Its because preparing acar is time consumingand a tedious job. However, today I cook again because I demonstrated to a friend how to cook this Nyonya Acar.

you need to cut a lot of veggie ,peel a lot of shallots that bring
tears to your eye. The worst part is the need to separate the seed in the dry chili
which always makes your hand feel like burning.

Prepare the acar one day ahead of serving
so that the spice
paste have enough time to develop its flavor and the vegetables properly pickled as well. Don't ever serve this on the
day it is made or you will be disappointed.

This
dish is usually eaten as an accompaniment to a main meal or can be
eaten as an appetizer or a snack.

Although the preparing process is tough, but when I see my family members enjoy and appreciate it, I feel is worth to do it.

Look, how crunchy and yummy it is! Once you've started,it's difficult to stop.

1. Rub the cucumber with salt. Drain in colander for about 10 to 15 minutes. Squeeze excess water from cucumbers and set aside.

2. Heat up oil, saute shallot and dry chili paste till fragrant. Add in turmeric powder continues saute until oil and paste is separated. Then add in tamarind juice ,sugar and stir well, follow by 1/3 of the peanuts,stir evenly.

3. Now, add in carrot ,long bean,cucumber,cabbage and pineapple(according to this sequence). Stir after each addition. Maintain the medium flame until boiling.

4. Sprinkle peanut and sesame on top before serve.

Tips:1. Before you add in any ingredients, make sure it is dry, to ensure the concentration of the paste. By this way only you can get the ideal Nyonya Acar.2. It
is important that your vegetables are fresh to ensure crunchiness and
be sure to remove the pith of the cucumbers and salt them to remove
excess water.